Microfluidics is concerned with the transport and processing of small amounts of gaseous or liquid substances, known as fluids. Microvalves are provided for controlling the amount of transported substance. Such microvalves are used as flow limiters for liquids transported in microfluidic components.
In miniaturized fluid valves the reduced sealing surface areas quickly result in leakages in the event of particle contamination. Sealing may be achieved, for example, by a sufficiently high actuating force or a sufficiently large sealing surface area, which is difficult to achieve in an integrated form.